My Waterbug

Maggie is really, really talking now. Her voice is so high and sweet! Here's a list of the words she uses:
Mommy Daddy, Grandma, Jake, Ellie, Grandpa, Ron, Unkie (her name for my brother, short for Uncle), Baby, Dog, Kitty, Gidget, Chiyo, bee, horse, monkey, butterfly (butt-bye!), Hi, Bye-bye, balloon, one, spongebob, dora, up, down, hot, cold, wet, look, water, yay, in, out, dance, mine, yucky. I can't remember everything...
Her favorite saying is "Oh, No!" Like when I put her bib on yesterday when it was a little wet and she said "Oh, no! Wet!" and she is saying things like "Look! Duck!" when she was taking a bath. And when we were playing in the front yard when Daddy came home from work she said "Hi, Daddy! Daddy daddy daddy! Hi!" She says "Weeeee!" when we drive over train tracks.
She started swim lessons last week and is standing out for her total and complete lack of fear. The teacher decided to work extra with her because as she explained "Maggie needs to learn fast!" She is trying to swim out of my arms and is learning so quickly. She is fearless, and puts her head under the water time and time again without getting upset. Most of kids can only handle once a class. She is just so at home in the water. It is so great to watch her do something she was so obviously born to do. I am so proud of my little, fearless, beautiful, talented daughter!

Not the best way to wake up

Three nights ago, Maggie woke up at 5:30 am. That never ever happens. Maggie is an anomaly among children, and routinely sleeps from 8:00 pm until 9:30-10:30 am. And she had stayed up late the night before and didn't go to bed until 10:00 pm. So anyway, Mark tried to get her to go to sleep with us (in his tired fog he didn't realize she had pooped), and he brought her to bed. She wouldn't go back to sleep (not with a poopy diaper!), so she laid between us and played for 15 Minutess.
When I say she "played", I mean she decided to start pulling my hair out, gently, one by one. At first I thought it was an accident. Then she did it again. And again. And again. And then I couldn't take it anymore.
I knew Mark was awake, too..trying to silently will her back to sleep. So, without moving, I quietly said "You know, she's pulling my hair out, one by one. It's horrible. I can actually feel them sliding out of the follicle. It's like a form of torture."
He was silent for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. And then I did, too. Of course Maggie joined us. And after that, we were all officially awake for the day.

Whenever Mark asks me where I want to go to eat and I have no idea, I always say "Food Town USA". I made this up a loooong time ago. Usually he'll say "Oh, Food Town USA, I love that place. What do they serve there again?" And then I'll just rattle off a ridiculously long list of foods that sound good to me. And then we laugh and he says "Seriously, where do you want to go?"